Huay Xai.
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Overview

Huay Xai (also Houayxay, Houei Sai etc.) is the capital of the Laos province of Bokeo. It lies on the banks of the Mekong River, which forms the border to Thailand. For most tourists it is seen as a transport stop-over, which is a pity. While there is not much to see in this small town, it's a good place to adapt to Lao life: sit on the banks of the Mekong, have a Beerlao and watch the river flow past, or even better, see the hordes of tourists float past.

Understand

Huay Xai is right across the river from Chiang Khong, Thailand.

Get in

Border crossing from Thailand to Laos

New Friendship Bridge 4. This bridge is the border crossing between Thailand and Laos. While the border is open from 06:00 to 22:00, the buses only operate from 08:00 to 18:00 which could leave you stranded.

If going to Chiang Khong from there you can get a tuk tuk for 50 baht (Dec 2022) per person to the Thai border checkpoint. The bus is as bad as you can imagine and the legs of an average person won't fit. After completing Thai immigration, you must take a shuttle bus across the bridge (08:00-18:00, 20 baht/person or 25 baht on weekends and after 16:00, 40 baht after 18:00). As it only leaves when reasonably full, you might have to wait for up to an hour. Walking or cycling across the bridge is not allowed. Bikes are transported inside the bus for 100 baht, sometimes including the per-person-fee. At the Laos border checkpoint, an immigration form must be filled out and the passport and a passport-sized photo must be handed to the official (they ask 20 baht fee for stamp). The photo can be obtained in Chiang Khong or in Chiang Rai near the bus station; if you arrive without a passport photo, the official will use a scan of your passport photo (80 baht fee). Most nationals can obtain a 30-day visa-on-arrival. Even if none of this is the case you will still likely be asked for the extra fee, but it is often possible to avoid it by arguing with the official or just walking out fast once the visum is stamped. Still in Dec 2024, the Laos immigration officials take a "fee" for entering the country by asking you for extra 50-100 baht when they hand you back the passport. This is corruption basically but most people pay because they just want to get through the border quickly. There is a counter to buy bus tickets to the bus station, city center, and many national and international destinations (like the border with China). Songthaews go to the Huay Xai city center for typically 50,000 kip or 100 baht per person (Nov 2022). Otherwise it is a 10-km walk. During the "rush hours", i.e. early mornings, there are many people going to the border and consequently, many tuktuks on the main road downtown, but by 10:00, you may have to walk a bit to find one. At the Laos immigration, there is fingerprinting and photographing. The bus over the river was 25 baht (15,000 kip) on a weekday. A desk on the Thai side sells songtaew tickets to Chiang Khong for 60 baht. If you tell them you are going to Chiang Rai, they might signal any oncoming bus to Chiang Rai to stop so that you don't have to go all the way into the bus terminal. The local bus to Chiang Rai (90 baht) is worn out with no AC and hard seats, but all the doors and windows are open which is cooling enough. The regular direct bus Huay Xai—Chiang Rai is not yet running after the covid.

By car You can drive from Vientiane on the haunted road. If you want to see how "haunted" it is, drive at night. With no buildings, no lights, and tall trees everywhere, it can get a little creepy.

The Friendship IV Bridge at the border is about 20 km south from Huay Xai.

By plane Huay Xai's tiny airport had service from Vientiane on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. However, as of March 2022, this airport has been closed for runway upgrade works. There are no flights.

By bus There are two bus stations around Huay Xai.

Upon arriving in Huay Xai, you may be approached by touts asking about your next destination. If you answer Luang Prabang, you will be pressured to reserve a ticket on a VIP bus, because the bus is invariably "sold out".

If you're going to be in Huay Xai for at least a day, take a tuk-tuk to the bus station for 10,000 kip and buy your ticket for the day you plan to leave. The extra money you spend on tuk-tuks is more than offset by the 100,000-150,000 kip you'll save on your bus ticket.

From Luang Namtha The journey is 198 km and now takes 5–6 hours with one stop for lunch on the way. The 09:30 bus arrives at the Bokeo bus station at around 14:30. Tuk-tuks charge 10–25,000 kip to the border or guesthouse of your choice in town.

From Chiang Rai There are four daily buses from Chiang Rai directly into Phet Aloune Station, which wait at the border. PLS Company buses depart at 10:00 & 16:30 every day from Bus Station 2 in Chiang Rai. It goes over the Mekong bridge and thru immigration at both sides into Laos at Bokeo. A cheaper option is the cross the border by yourself: red local buses travel every hour between Chiang Rai and Chiang Khong (90 baht in Dec 2024) or directly the border (140 baht in Dec 2024).

From other destinations There are daily buses to/from Muang Xay (330 km, 85,000 kip), Vientiane (900 km, 230,000 kip) and Jinghong, China (150,000 kip).

Slow Boat Pier. The slow boat is mainly used to leave Huay Xai as the journey moving upstream is usually just too long for most people. The boat ride from Luang Prabang is divided into two days via Pakbeng and done by different boat drivers. The boat used to leave at 11am but as of Dec 2024 this has been moved to 9am. It is now not possible to take the earliest bus from Chiang Rai and still catch the slow boat. You are forced to spend the night in the town. One has the speculate they changed the timing on purpose to force the extra night and boost the local tourism.The slow boat from Pakbeng arrives in Huay Xai at around 17:30 which leaves just about enough time to cross the border to Chiang Khong. You can stay overnight in Huay Xai to avoid a stressful border crossing. See Luang Prabang and Pakbeng for the full scoop if traveling downriver.

Huay Xai to Pak Beng 200,000 kip (Dec 2024). Huay Xai to Luang Phabang 400,000 kip. (Dec 2024). If buying the full trip ticket beware of the double-purchase scam. If they check your ticket on the first leg of the trip under no circuimstances allow them to keep the ticket. The next leg of the trip will be a different boat and different crew and if you tell them your ticket was checked and kept the previous day they'll say it has nothing to do with them and insist you buy a new ticket.

There are no scheduled services upriver, but you may be able to charter a boat to Luang Namtha for around 1,500,000 kip or 6,000 baht for the whole charter. The boats can carry between 6-10 people (the boat carries fewer people at the end of the dry season, when the river is low).

You can also reach Luang Prabang by speedboat, a bone-jarring, ear-destroying and potentially lethal 6-hour ride. See Luang Prabang#Get in and also read the warning about speedboats first. The speedboat landing is 5 km south of town.

The old cross-ferry service is apparently still working, but only for Thai and Lao citizens. Cross the bridge instead.

By train The Laos-China train stops in Na Teuy (Nateuy) station, where official minivans are waiting to take connecting passengers to many destinations. Ask the desk about a van to Bokeo (and confirm with the driver as well). The minivans are cramped and the road is less than pristine so bumps will be common (avoid the cramped and sensitive seats in the last row). 2024). The minivan makes toilet stops (you may have to use the forest) and maybe a longer food stop, and arrives at the Phet Aloune bus station in Huay Xai after about four and a half hours.

Get around

You can walk the main street. For longer distances take a bike taxi.

See

Fort Carnot. On top of the hill, dominating the Mekong, the French colonial-era Fort Carnot era has undergone some conservation work, but it is still quite dilapidated. One of the towers can be climbed, providing a good view of the Mekong (in 2018 the tower was not accessible due to much scrub). Though not spectacular at all, it's a good way to start one's travel in Laos and remember that the country has been a favorite playground of Western powers for decades.

See the view from the temple tower at the top of the hill on the main street, near the border crossing.

Do

The Gibbon Experience. A forest conservation project that raises funds by taking guests into the Bokeo Nature Reserve, home to the Laotian black crested gibbon. Once thought extinct, it is now known that up to 400 people live in this forest. The Reserve is mostly primary monsoon dry deciduous forest, but also contains some lowland slash-and-burn agriculture. The Gibbon Experience is the only way to visit the Reserve. Every other day there is a truck covering the 3½ hours to the last village, where you start your hike to the project. Accommodation is provided in terrific tree houses in giant trees over 40 m high. To access the houses, you glide on a cable from a surrounding hilltop. There is an extensive cable network set up to explore the canopy, providing breathtaking views of the scenery. You can book at their office in Huay Xai or by emailing them.

Golden Triangle Special Economic Zone. The provincial economy is now dominated by the Golden Triangle Special Economic Zone (GT SEZ). In 2007, the Chinese-owned Kings Romans Group entered into a 99-year lease for 10,000 hectares on the banks of the Mekong. The company was granted 3,000 of these hectares as a duty-free zone, now the SEZ. As gambling is illegal in China, and the SEZ is only a two-hour journey by road from China, casinos and hotels catering to a Chinese clientele were built. As an unintended consequence, a robust industry involving trafficking in endangered animals has grown up around the Chinese tourist trade. Several restaurants in the SEZ serve exotic meats: tiger, pangolin, bear cub and python. Tiger bone wine is also frequently served. Shops in the SEZ sell animal parts, stuffed animals and ivory, all in contravention of the CITES treaty to which Laos is a party. Has to be seen to be believed — and lamented. .

Morning Market. Pay a visit to the market. The best time to visit is early morning.

Buy

The most important thing to buy is something to eat & drink for the slow-boat journey to Luang Prabang, although nowadays food and drinks are available on most boats. Food is not great, but acceptable.

Money: There's a small bank office offering change for cash and travellers' cheques next to the immigration office. There are ATMs on the main road straight up the hill from the immigration office with a maximum withdrawal per transaction of 1,000,000 kip. It is better to get baht from Thailand and exchange them here because of the higher limits in Thailand. They also change some other currencies. (Nov 2022). Paying for food directly in baht can easily result in more than 20% overcharge. Phongsavanh ATM charge 20,000 withdrawal fee and gives maximum of 2,000,000 kip. (Dec 2024)

Eat

Most of the guest houses provide simple meals.

Watch the sunset over the Mekong river from a riverside restaurant.

The restaurant next door to the Gibbon Experience office is home to the expat crowd in town. It has a nice garden restaurant and terrace overlooking the Mekong.

Daauw Home. Small bar and restaurant run by Project Kajsiab (a non-profit organisation that seeks to improve the health of the Lao people in Bokeo Province). Dinner 70,000-100,000 kip for two; beer, teas and Mojilaos available in the drinks department. Nice setting and chilled vibes around the fire or on the verandah.

Khongvab Duck BBQ. For all those tired of chicken and pork. Popular with locals and delicious. From 14:00 to 17:00 when the duck is on the BBQ you can't miss it.

Latsuly Return. Restaurant overlooks the slow boat wharf and truck ferry and is a nice place to watch the world go by.

No Name. Outdoor restaurant with a big terrace built on the banks of the Mekong. It offers Lao barbecue, a tasty combination of Japanese shabu-shabu and Korean BBQ, i.e., you grill and stew up your own meats and veggies.

Drink

There is not much nightlife in town. To have a beer, simply visit a restaurant or get your own stocks of Beerlao at one of the shops.

Sleep

BAP Guesthouse. Somewhat of a travellers' hangout. Not only overcharging occurs here, there is a real effort by the management to get as much money out of you as possible. Booking a bus here to Chiang Mai may very well leave you stranded in Chiang Khong overnight.

Friendship Guesthouse. A great family-run guesthouse. Rooms are available as double or single and all have private bath with hot water. The building's tiled roof top balcony provides panoramic views of the city and neighboring Chiang Khong across the Mekong River, making for a great place to read a book during the day or have a cup of tea at night and watch life pass by, albeit slowly. Make sure that you book a room that is close to the street front as the rear rooms lack natural light. No Internet/Wi-Fi. For example, at least one traveller reported expecting to get a 10,000 kip key deposit back when checking out, but being told suddenly that there is no key deposit.

Gateway Villas. Free Wi-Fi for hotel or restaurant customers.

Manirath Guesthouse. Clean and good value.

Oudomphone Guesthouse 2. Has double bedrooms with spotlessly clean floors and hot showers. There is a good, cheap restaurant and a small convenience/souvenir store on the premises.